Food for Happy Souls
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I love baking breads at home ever since I attended a day-long workshop on Bread Baking at Meg’s Kitchen. My husband love them even more as he enjoys eating them freshly baked at home. After a couple of trials, I could finally make an Eggless Sesame Challah Bread.
The actual pronunciation of Challah is “Halla”. It is a popular Jewish Braided Bread with a beautiful crust on the outside and soft on the inside. Traditionally eggs are basic component of a Challah Bread. However I wanted to try an eggless version of this bread which not only looks good but also tastes good.
On the first time, I tried this bread…..the texture was denser than the usual breads. However on my second attempt, I made few changes in ratio of Whole Wheat Flour and All Purpose Flour. I also substituted the eggs with Aquafaba. The bread this time was an absolute delight. It was perfect in terms of texture as well as color. I literally gave a pat on my back myself for making this bread.
You may wonder, what do I mean by the word Aquafaba. It is the residual liquid which one gets upon boiling chickpeas or chole. You may also use the liquid from the Canned chickpeas Packs for the same purpose. However, in this recipe I made Aquafaba myself at home.
Using Aquafaba in the recipe was a superb idea as it acted as a very good replacement for eggs. The normal liquid strained out of boiled chickpeas was used in the recipe. Also you need not worry about any odd taste of chickpeas in the recipe due to usage of Aquafaba as there is none.
Now coming to the trickiest part of making the Eggless Sesame Challah Bread. Yes its braiding the bread and shaping it as per choice. As you may see in the pictures on the post, I have shaped the bread in two ways. I have made a 4-Strand Braided Challah. You can go upto 8 strands for braiding. For quick reference, you can watch this tutorial on YouTube as the process is explained in the simplest form.
An eggless version of a popular Jewish Braided Bread.
In a small cup, Warm 2 tbsp water in microwave for 10-15 seconds. Add 1 1/2 tsp sugar and the entire qty of Active Dry Yeast and mix well and set aside for yeast to activate and fluff up.
In another large bowl, sieve together Whole Wheat Flour, All Purpose Flour (or Maida), Salt and remaining sugar.
Add the activated yeast, Milk and Aquafaba into the flour bowl and knead the bread dough. After all the flour has been assimilated in the dough, add the oil and knead it well. It should take approximately 10-12 minutes.
To test if the gluten in the dough has formed fully, take a small portion and stretch it with hands such that it does not tear and check if light passes through it. This is called a Window Pane test to check if the dough is ready. If the dough is not stretchy enough without tearing itself….knead for another 3-5 minutes
Oil the bowl and also add some oil to the top surface of the dough. Place the dough in the oiled bowl and cover it with a cling wrap. Keep the dough in a warm place and allow it to proof until it doubles in size. It should take around 30-45 minutes depending upon how warm is your climate.
After the first proofing, take the dough out on your kitchen surface and punch it down lightly to release the excess air.
Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and roll them out into 12 inch strands of equal thickness. Now braid the 4 strands as per the video i have linked in the blog. Make sure that the ends are pinched and sealed together.
Once your Challah Bread is braided…you can shape it in a form of a circle or place it in a loaf tin lined with parchment paper. Keep the shaped dough aside for 2nd proofing. It should take approximately 20-30 minutes for the 2 proof.
Pre heat the oven at 180 Degrees Celsius for 10-15 minutes
After the dough is proofed for 2nd time, brush the top with a mix of 1 tsp honey and 1 tbsp water and add the White sesame seeds and Black Sesame seeds.
Bake the Eggless Sesame Challah Bread for 30-35 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius until the top is golden brown in color and a hollow sound comes when tapped on the center.
Take the bread out of the oven and brush some oil and let it cool completely. Slice the bread after cooled down and store in an airtight container for up to a week in the refrigerator.
